recipeworld

A great strategy for making an individual serving of soup is to use a can of beans and an immersion blender. Soups where beans serve as the base turn out thick and creamy while remaining healthy. A bean base is also quite tasty. The only problem is that leftovers dry out, as the beans continue to absorb the liquid, so just add more stock or broth to leftovers when you reheat them.

The cinnamon in this soup is not overpowering: it’s a great combination with the earthiness of the lentils and the goat cheese, and your guests will not be able to guess what this spice is, considering the absence of its normal partner of sugar.

Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 glass red wine
2 new potatoes, diced small
1 can lentils, not drained
1/4-1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 oz. goat cheese
Sweat the onions in oil with a bit of salt until they color slightly. Add the wine and scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom of the saucepan. Add the potatoes, lentils, chicken broth and cinnamon. Cook until the potatoes are cooked through and the flavors have melded, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and blend slightly with an immersion blender, leaving about half the lentils whole. Stir in more chicken broth if necessary. Serve with goat cheese crumbled on top.

Comfort food is a funny, funny thing. Sometimes the strangest combinations end up being absolutely delicious.

Take one of my favorite comfort foods. The combination of boiled potatoes, plain yogurt, mustard and chives should not be nearly as delicious as it is. It’s a simple recipe I learned a long time ago from a French family, but I still make it whenever I want something hot and simple for dinner. I used a big potato in this picture, but the presentation is a lot nicer with little, red-skinned new potatoes.

Chive-Mustard Potatoes 

½ lb. new potatoes

2 cups plain yogurt

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 tbsp. chives

Boil the potatoes until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and toss with salt. Place in a large serving bowl.

Combine the yogurt, mustard and chives, adjusting amounts for your preference (I like it spicy and chivey).

Serve potatoes with a bowl of sauce on the side. Some charcuterie (cold cuts like prosciutto, salami and ham) and a fresh, green salad make good accompaniments.

Note: You can also mash the potatoes: increase the sauce proportions by half and mash with the potatoes, adding a pat of butter to each serving.

Once again, I bring you eggs.

This time, I’ve combined pungent gorgonzola cheese and woodsy mushrooms for an omelette that is sturdy enough to be dinner on a winter evening with a side of green salad. I’ll never tire of omelettes, and neither should you: they’re a cheap, delicious way to clean out the fridge and experiment with different combinations of ingredients.
 

Gorgonzola Mushroom Omelette

5-6 crimini mushrooms, sliced

salt and pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. butter

2 oz. Gorgonzola, broken into small chunks

6 eggs

3 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp. crème fraiche or sour cream

Heat a skillet over medium head and add the butter and oil. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt (the cheese will bring salt as well). Cook the mushrooms until they have released their liquid and it has evaporated, and they are brown and toasty on the outside. Spread them evenly across the bottom of the skillet. If you need more oil, add another teaspoon of olive oil.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk and crème fraiche. Pour the mixture over the mushrooms. Top immediately with the Gorgonzola cheese and black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover. Cook just until the omelette has set, about five minutes, checking the bottom for doneness. If necessary, turn the temperature down to low to keep the bottom from burning.

Carefully, flip one side of the omelette over the other to form a half moon. Cook another thirty seconds to set, and then transfer to a plate. Cut into wedges and serve.

This steak was inspired by one of my favorite restaurants: l’Entrecôte in Paris, whose actual recipe is one of the best-kept secrets of the foodie world. Truth be told, it’s actually my mother’s recipe, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me when you try it: it’s incredible. If you can’t find tarragon mustard, you can add fresh tarragon to your mustard, but the infusion of the special mustard is really the key: if you can find it, be sure to get some.

Entrcote a l’Estragon

1 entrecôte (thinly cut sirloin) steak

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon tarragon mustard

1 glass red wine

1 tbsp. heavy cream

Bring the meat to room temperature. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the outsides of the meat liberally with salt and black pepper. 

Add the oil and butter, making sure not to burn the butter. When the oil is hot, add the steak. Cook two minutes on each side, not moving the steak until necessary. Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Add the wine to the pan and deglaze the bottom with a whisk. Add the mustard and stir together until the sauce emulsifies. Remove from the heat and add a tablespoon of cream. Serve with roasted potatoes or garlic-rubbed toast to soak up the extra sauce.

Figs are in season at the beginning of fall/end of summer, but I wanted to post this recipe from my archives now. This was one of the first recipes I invented all on my own: I was looking to make a dessert that showed off the sweetness of figs without overpowering their distinct flavor. The plating can be done as shown, or with two per plate for a more dainty dessert for company. The sauces can also be served on the side if you wish.

Mascarpone Figs

4 Mission figs
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. fig jam
½ tsp dried mint
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup mascarpone cheese
¼ cup fromage frais or plain whole-milk yogurt

Slice the figs from the top of the stem down to about a half-centimeter from the base. Rotate 180 degrees and slice again so that the figs are still whole, but have four distinct sections. Pull the sections apart. Place the figs in a skillet and cover. Heat over low heat until the figs are just heated through.

Meanwhile, combine the fig jam with an equal part of water in a saucepan until it melts to a sauce consistency. Add the mint and pepper to the honey.

Combine the mascarpone and fromage frais or yogurt.

To plate as shown, place the mascarpone mixture in four equal portions at the four corners of a plate. Place a fig in each dollop of the mascarpone mixture. Drizzle both the fig sauce and the honey sauce on the plate. Serve warm.

I know I go on and on about eggs a lot, but they’re really an amazing food–it’s like that commercial for “the incredible edible egg.” Anyone? Anyone? Crickets? OK then… moving on.

Eggs are really, really good for you. They’re an amazing source of protein and the yellows are a good source of vitamin D, so all you people who only eat the whites because of the cholesterol in the yolks… well think again.

I eat hard-boiled eggs for lunch a lot, but when I’m making dinner, I usually want something hot. If I want something hot and quick, I often turn to scrambled eggs. In just a few minutes and with very few ingredients, you have something hot, filling, good for you and delicious… how “incredible” is that?

Scrambled Eggs with Shallots

Note 2: If you’re lazy, like me, you can also turn down the heat and add the eggs, yogurt and milk directly to the skillet. You have to stir a bit more quickly to make sure the eggs break and combine with the dairy before they cook, but this way, there will be no extra dishes to do.